Alcoholics Anonymous Reviews

Bethel is a community of about 6,000 on the banks of the Kuskokwim River in Western Alaska. Possessing alcohol there is legal, although most surrounding villages are "dry."

Booze still flows into Bethel, though, just like the Kuskolwim. Some is bootlegged and some flown in -- legally and illegally to the Bush.

The streets of the "Bush metropolis" are filled with alcohol-fueled troublemakers, regardless the law. They consume a lot of officers' time.

"It gets extremely old walking into houses, night after night, call after call, seeing intoxicated people lying on the floor, having to walk over garbage on the floor and empty alcohol bottles everywhere," said Cpl. Amber Terrill of the Bethel Police Department.

The community is damp, meaning someone can bring alcohol there and consume it. Still the sale or purchase of alcohol there is illegal.

No alcohol is allowed in the 57 villages surrounding Bethel, according to Alaska State Troopers.

"As a damp community people can bring it in and export it, which is what they are doing -- bootlegging to dry villages," said Lt. Craig MacDonald of the troopers.

Illegal sales of booze are common in Bethel. With large walkways, box stores and such a large population, Bethel is unlike any other village in the western part of the state.

Yet it suffers from many of the same problems.

A 750 milliliter bottle of whiskey sells for $80 or even more where alcohol is not allowed. A quart of booze can run $200 in outlying villages.

Bethel city officials say arresting problem alcoholics and bootleggers isn't making things better.

"Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. I think that's the situation we are in here," said City Manager Don Baird. "We keep doing the same things here, expecting them to get better, and they are not going to."

Bethel officers say nine out of 10 calls they take are fueled by alcohol.

They place many people into protective custody, or PC, when they are too drunk to walk.

"Last week I PC'd a woman for a 12-hour detox hold," said Bethel Police Dept. Lt. Andre Achee. "Within three hours and 15 minutes we PC'd her again."

On one chilly morning, police dealt with the third-alcohol related death of 2008.

"The (deceased) had been drinking throughout the night," Lt. Achee said.

Another resident won't see his 40th birthday.

"It's a very sad situation out here and alcohol is definitely the number one problem," Cpl. Terril said.

But Bethel officers know they will be back on the streets and keeping their nightly appointments with a river of booze.

"It's a big reality check out here, more so than other departments I've been at," Cpl. Terril said.

City officials are building a liquor distribution center. When finished, all orders of alcohol that come into Bethel will be picked up at the center instead of the airport.

Police hope it will allow them to track who is buying alcohol, in hopes of reducing the number of bottles that are illegally taken from Bethel to nearby dry villages.

KTUU